Braking mechanism



H. s. MomoN.

BRAKNG MEGHANISWI. APPLICATION FILED 1ULY 12,1916. RENEWED DEc.-1L :91a

STATES PATENT UFFC.

HRLD S. MOBJTIT, F MINNEAPOLIS, MNNESOTA, ASSGNR. TQ MRTN EMRK MPANY, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, A. CORPORATN 0F MNNES'IA.

enemies Meenemen.

appuaumi alec. any 1a, 191e, serial ne. maeva.

To all trimm it may concern:

lle it known that l, HAROLD S. Mon'ron, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota. have invented certain new and useful improvements in Braking Mechanism, of which the followingr is a specification.

My invention relates to braking mecha nism. of the type which may readily be at tached to the front or steering wheels of an automobile and which vmay be operated in conjunction with the brakes ordinarily used on the rear wheels in a four-Wheel brake sys tem such as is disclosed in my Patent Number 1,164,066, granted duly 21, 1914i. lt is a particular object of my invention to pro-- vide a device of the above character which will be simple in construction., efficient in use and which can be attached to the front axle and the front or steering wheels of an existing automobile without drilling,- holes or altering any of the parts present in the automobile and without injury to the working efficiency of the parts or detriment to the appearance ifv the car.

The full objects Iand advantages of my invention will appear in connection with. the detailed description thereof and are particularly pointed out in the claims. A In the drawings, illustrating the application of my invention. in one form,"

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a portion of an automobile chassis showing one of my braking devices applied to the front wheel. Q is an enlarged elevation'part in sectional View of a portion of the front axle and wheel showing the brake drum in position. Fie". 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. l is a part sectional plan'view of yparts shown in Fig. 2.

Frame members 11 of an lautomobile are connected in the usual watL through 'springs 18 with the front axle 14a. which axle is supported by wheels 16 each having ainultie plicity of wooden spokes 36 secured to a hub 37 by hub flanges 38 and 39, hub 37 being,- journaled on a stub shaft 40 having' a vertical knuckle 41 pivoted to theiforked portion 42 on the end of arde 14k4 by means of a trun nion 89. A lug 13 cast on the knuckle 4:1 has a shouldered rod 4t passing through it secured on the opposite side by a nut 15,

which rod is pivotally connected with a corresponding rod on the opposite Wheel by Specicatou rof Letters Patent.

Patented lillar. Edd 192th Renewedecember 1%, 191.9. Serial No. 344,46?.

a link 11G. rlhe front wheels are thus secured to move in unison and oscillated upon the trunnions 89 by steerin mechanism of well-known construction. ll of the above parts are, or maybe, ofthe various common designs employed .in the manufacture of automobiles. 4 A

The construction of the detachable brake mechanism embodies a drum 3ft havingF a backing; plate 33 with a central'opening 35 of a size adapted lto slip over the hub flange 39 and which is provided with a number of recessed blocks, lif? formed integral with backing' plate 33 which abut against the spokes 36 and receive the saine within the recesses of said blocks. The drum is eenn tered on the wheel by means of ,aperture 35 and is rigidly secured thereto by a number I of U-bolts 4-8 which pass over said spokes and through the drum and. are fastened on the inside by a number of nuts 49. The drum is thus very rigidly and accurately secured to the wheel 16 and not only has the effect of adding to the wheel a brake drum, as will hereinafter appear,` without cutting, boring lholes or in any way altering the wheel structure, `but .also very greatly strengthens the wheel because of the fact that the backing plate 33 engaging the spokes at a\ point between the hub andthe felly of the wheel forms a substantial stiffening member.

Vithin the drum 34 a casting having two U-shaped members 50 and 51, connected by vertical bars and 53, is adapted to slip over the steering knuckle 41 and be held in place by a set-screw 54 screwed into a boss formed on member 5() beyond the center of the knuckle, and by means of the steering arm 411 which is adapted to pass through the lower end 56 of the bar 53 and have said bar secured thereto and to Vthe lug 43 bymeans of the conical nut 45 previously mentioned. Through the agency of the nut 45 the lower portion of the casting is held from rotating or sliding longitudinally upon the knuckle lll, and by means of the set-screw 54 the hub portion is hence held in place, thus rigidlysecuring the casting to said knuckle, as will be hereafter pointed out. This casting provides an anchor for the brake band and serves to support a portion of the brake-actuating mechanism. An arin 57, which may be ribbed if desired, extends downwardly froln bar 52 and the `Ushaped members 50 and 51, preferably `being 'formed integral therewith, and termi: natcs in a head 58 havlng a, segmental slot 01 concentric with the brake drum and axle 'and still free to expand and contract as desired.; A pin (55 pivotally mounted in the lugs and 60 has rigldly secured to it between'said lugs a double-faccd cam (50 and an arm 67 on the end adjacent the inner portion of the. brake drum 3i.

This cam, which is dlamondshaped, havmpr the corners rounded oli', is so positioned that when `the arm 07 is oscillated upward the faces ett said lcam act between the brackets 6l and cause the brake band (32 to expand and en- ,Y gage the inner surface of the drum 3.4. In

addition to the slot 01 for holding the brake band in place within the drum said band is `supported in two other places, as best shown in Fig. 3. A. pairot bosses (38 and 09, formed interg'ral with the U-shaped member 50, have rods and 71 screwed into them which extend outward and pass through U-brackets 72'and T3 attached to the inner surface ot the brake band 62. These brackets are provided with slotted apertures through which rods T0 and 71 extend, permitting the band to move circiunferentially but holding it yin place within the drum.

The devices for acting' upon the arm or leverl'(y are best shown in Figs. 2 and a. A casting or bracket comprisinga longitudinal bar M and transverse members 75 and 7G adapted to hook over the lower flange of the front axle at 78 and 79, is secured thereon by means of set-screws 77 which pass throufghlugs 80 and 81 formed on the yupper.surfaces of the members 75 and 76 and engage the top of/said axle Harige. flhis casting is provided with a pair of bearings 82 and 83 formed integral with the T5 and 76 in which is journaled a short shaft Si. The inner end of shaft has rigidly secured to it an arm 85 which is bent inward at 88 and engages a sireular portion 86 ci the arm 67 within drum Arnr falls below ythe arm' S7, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 'and 3 and engages the portion 80 of this arm substantia-ily beneath the 'andie `8) of lthe steering knuckle ai. The said portion/86 actuall' extends bevond the line of spindle 89to alllow the GT to swing upward the meximum amount to clear the nul on the end ol' said spindle. As the wheel oscillates l'or steering` the lever 88 and the portion Sli olt the lever`67 Shiftaelatively to each other by sliding a small amount. though the same rolative movement ol: the lever 8S will operate to Set the brakes in all posit ionsl ol' the steel ing wheel. In this manner oscillation olE the shaft 84 tends to set or relieve the brake equally well in all positions of the .steering wheel.

It will be understood that a separate drum 34 is applied to each of the lront steering wheels and that the operativo parts herein referred to ,are duplicated for each of these steering drums. Each ot the shafts 8l has fast thereon an arm 105 connected by links 101 with arms 103 fast on an equalizer shaft 9S, which in turn has an arm 100 pivotally connected through equalizer mechanism 107, 109 and link 111 with the brake pedal 31. The link 111, pieces 109., 107, etc., take the place of the usual brake rod extending back to the rear brake wheels. a separate link 110 extending from piece 109 to the rear brake mechanism, not here shown.

The advantages of' my invention will he apparent. It has been sulricientl y established .that what is known as skidding in automobiles is largely the result of the brakingr of the rear wheels only when the alltomobile has started to turn and the actual line of movement of the entire momentum of the automobile is at an angle to the free rolling movement of the wheels. When the rear wheels only arc braked, so that they become stationary and slide, in skidding. that part of the machine follows the line of actual momentum while the front wheels being in free rolling,Y contact continue to run oli' at an angleLthus resulting;r in the turning of the automobile and the loss of control thereof by the driver. When, however, all four wheels are braked this turning movement is entirely overcome. Not only will there be twice the braking elliciency for stopping the machine, but any skidding which may take place will take place uniformly throughout the length of the car and will not result in they turning of the automobile or in loss of control. With my present invention automobiles or other vehicles not ordinarily' provided with brakes for all four wheels, or with front wheel brakes, may be so equipped without machining or altering the parts of the vehicle, and this may be done in a manner which does not interfere with the appearance of the ca r and actually adds to the strength of the front wheel structure.

I claim:

1. In combination with the frontaXle, a steering knuckle mounted for oscillation in a horizontal plane thereon and the front wheel of a vehicle, a brake drum attached to lill steering knuckle mounted for oscillation thereon, and thefront wheel of a vehicle, a brake drum attached to said wheel, abrake band mounted within saiddrum', a member secured to the steeringknuckle, a pin pivot` ally mounted in said member, a cam secured to said in between the ends of said brake band, su stantially radially positioned rods secured to said member and engaging said brake band for holding the samein operative ,position within the drum, an arm secured to said pivotally mounted pin, and

means operative upon said arm for'setting the brake.

V3. In combination with the front axle, a steering knuckle mounted for oscillation in a horizontal plane thereon, and the front wheel of a vehicle, a brake drum attached to said wheel, a brake band mounted within said drum, a U-shaped member secured to the steeringA knuckle, an arm extending downwardly from said member, a pin pivotv ally mounted in the end of said arm, a cam secured to said pin, an enlarged portion on each end of said brake band, said portions lying adjacent opposite sides of said cam, slotted members secured to the inside of said brake band, substantially radially positioned rods secured at their inner ends to said U-shaped member and having their other ends extending through the slots of said slotted members, an arm secured to said pivotallymounted in, and means operative upon said arm or setting the brake 4. In combination with the front axle, a steeiing knuckle mounted for oscillation in a horizontal plane thereon, and the front Whe 1 of a. vehicle,`a brake drum detachably secu ed to the spokes on the inner side of said Wheel, a brake band mounted Within said drum, a U-shaped member secured to ,the steering knuckle, an arm extending downwardly'from said member terminating in a head having a segmental slot, lugs extending from said head, a pin pivotally mounted insaid lugs, a cam secured to said pin between s aid lugs, an enlarged. portion on each nd of said brake band, said portions 'lying adjacent opposite sides of said cam and being guided in said slot, slotted members secured to the inside of said brake band, substantially radially positioned rods secured at their inner ends to said U-shaped member and havingr their outer ends extending through the slots of said slotted members, an arm secured to said pvotally mounted pin, and means operative upon said arm for setting the brake.

In testimonyv whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of twov witnesses.

HAROLD S. MORTON. Witnesses:

l A. M. ROYAL,

H. A. Bowl/IAN.v 

